One of my favorite fitness numbers is my heart rate. Your heart rate can tell you so much about your workout. Are you working hard enough? Are you working TOO hard? What exercises elevates your heart rate and keeps them there and which ones do not? I like knowing that what I am doing is doing something! I mean, if I am going to put in the time, I had better be getting something out of it, right?!

I did not wear my heart rate monitor as much when I was solely running. I would wear it occasionally but came to realize that my heart rate, on a run, is bangin’. I know that going on a run for thirty minutes or an hour was going to get my heart pumping for sure!

But since I’ve been sidelined for the past 7 weeks (wahhhhhh!!) I have started to wear my heart rate monitor more often to make sure that the exercises I am doing are getting my heart rate up to a level that makes my heart work. After all, like I have told Katie since she was itty bitty, “Why do we work out, Katie? To make our heart strong, that’s right!”I have always left off the “and to make our butt smaller” part. She will probably figure that out soon enough, sadly.

So I thought I would share this morning’s heart pumping workout that left me absolutely drenched. And yes, that’s a good thing.

I started out with Jillian Michaels’ Ripped in 30-

I really like these because there are four different workouts in one DVD and each one is 30 minutes. Each workout has strength, cardio, and abs…intense yes, but it’s only 30 minutes.

Then, as I was scrolling through Instagram this morning (posting my #SheReadsTruth for today), I noticed this short and sweet series by @JanaKickBooty.

And it did. Kick.my.booty.

Time-

Not too bad.

After that I proceeded to turn on the Olympics while I walked my two miles. Ankle still sore. Hmmm. Going to call doctor today and see what he says.

I was going to be done working out after my two miles, but then I thought about something I saw on Pinterest this morning-

And repeated the above booty-kicking series, with an even faster time-

Whaaaaa?! Awesome!!

My final heart rate stats were great, too!

And the graph-

I think this is the coolest thing. See the first [almost] thirty minutes, that was Ripped in 30, then there is the spikes for the minutes I was doing the series from Instagram (with the spikes being the burpees I’m sure!), then there is the steady-state heart rate from the walk, then the spikes again.

You really do not need all this information to get in a good workout, but I love it. I love knowing the results of my sweat! A heart rate monitor is such a valuable workout tool.

Know what else is super valuable?? Time spent in the Word. Seriously, it starts my day off with the right mood, attitude, and intention. My mornings are not complete without my quiet time.

Monday, July 30, 2012

Monday of the week that Katie will hopefully get her splint off and be braced (literally) to SWIMMMM!!!! (And that means I can swim, too, since I made the whole “I won’t swim until you can, sweetie,” comment…)

We go back to the dr in STL on Thursday and Katie’s already planned that she is getting out of the car and jumping straight into the pool as soon as we get home! She said she doesn’t even care if she has a swimsuit on or not. Me either, actually. I pray the appointment goes as anticipated or we will be two VERY disappointed girls.

Ok, first things first- another Survivor Sister was welcomed into Heaven on Friday, after a long battle with breast cancer. Krissi was diagnosed at stage 4 in December 2010 and has been fighting the good fight ever since. Although I never met her, she always inspired me with her bright smile and her positive attitude. She always said she was going to kick cancer’s booty…she was so determined. Her last journal entry that she wrote herself on July 12 ended with, “I’m still fighting with all I have. All my love and prayers!!! :-)”

I am praying for comfort and peace for her family, especially her husband Brent and their two children, Jake and Ellee. I know you are rejoicing in your healing in Heaven, Krissi.

We have been all up inthe Olympicssince Friday night…have you been watching?

It was like pulling teeth to get Katie to go out to dinner Friday evening because she wanted to stay home to watch the opening ceremonies! We assured her that we would record it, which we did, and that there would be no gymnastics going on while we were gone. She is all-about the gymnastics, of course. As soon as we got home from dinner, she and I watched until the very last firework had gone off…Daddy wasn’t nearly as excited and he headed to bed.

We found some time to get some snuggles from baby Allie the past few days…

I mean, seriously…does it get any cuter than this?! She is so sah-weetttt!

And, looky what I did yesterday (and today)!!!

Oh yeah! That’s a 2-mile walk right there!!! I was a little bummed that my ankle got sore as I got towards the end of my walk, and for a little while afterwards…but later on it stopped being sore and didn’t bother me again. This morning it felt great when I started and got sore again towards the end. I’m going to keep an eye on it and call the doctor to make sure everything is ok. But I’m excited!!!

Our #SheReadsTruth group is coming close to the end of the 21-day Prayer devotion plan. We are starting the new plan, topic TBA, next Monday! So here’s your chance to get the app downloaded and join us!

DAY 16-

DAY 17-

DAY 18-

DAY 19-

Alright, guys, I’m off. Laundry and bookwork calls.

Cherish every moment, tell someone you love them, and LADIES- have you done your monthly breast self-exam or is it time to schedule your mammogram?? Get on it. You could save your own life.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

I’m not sure what I was thinking when I decided to try a new workout DVD the day after doing Extreme Burn…apparently I wasn’t, because man! It was brutal! An hour and fifteen minutes of a hardcore workout. Do NOT underestimate Jeanette Jenkins’ Bikini Bootcamp!

I thought the pool made a nice background for the whole bikini-theme.

Just let me say, I love Jeanette Jenkins’ workout DVDs. Her cardio kickboxing is one of my very favorites. I like her personality, her motivation and encouragement, and her style. She kicks my butt without making me want to cuss. All in all, we could totally be best friends, ya know?

So when I noticed her Bikini Body DVD on Amazon, I did not hesitate to order it up, and lo-and-behold, it came yesterday!

Do not think for one second that the whole “bikini” thing makes this workout any easier…it does not. The cardio is heart-pounding and the strength portion backs it up with lots of moves with dumbbells. After all that, you still have abs to do! My heart rate monitor tells the story perfectly-

Umm, yeah. That’s as close to a run as I’ve had in the last 6 weeks I think!

I stopped my HRM at the one-hour mark when I laid down on the floor to do abs and stretching because I KNEW my butt had been kicked in the first hour and I just wanted to see how my HR measured up. I still had a pretty good HR during the 15-minute floor-portion, but obviously not near as high as when I was up and bouncing and lifting. I’ll let it go next time just to see.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

My doctor’s appointment for my leg/ankle/whatever else is broken (ha) was yesterday afternoon. And it went pretty well!

The x-rays showed the new bone that is building around the stress fracture in my fibula and the puffiness that I’m noticing is just a typical healing reaction. <------All good things!! All my ligaments and tendons are solid, as they have been.

The doctor said he really wants me to get to the 8-12 week (post-injury) mark before I am back to full-on running. I am into my 6th week…6 weeks, 3 days to be exact. I could probably count the hours, but I’ll spare you. SO, I got the go ahead to start walking next week. 2 miles, nothing crazy, and see how it feels. The week after THAT, I can start SLOWLY JOGGING…emphasis on slowly. After that week, it’s all based on how it feels.

The thing that got me yesterday was when he said, “You have broken a major bone in the body, for no reason.” You have to be careful.

Gotcha.

I’ll be careful, and I’m certainly not rushing into anything.

I promise. [And I really am serious.]

On to other things…

This morning I broke out my Extreme Burn DVD, and it kicked my butt…in a good way of course. I have put this DVD away for the last 6 weeks because I knew I would have to do a lot of modifications in order to avoid any impact on my leg. But frankly, I REALLY wanted to do something different today, so mods it was! Even with lots of modifications, it had my muscles trembling. I’m so glad I went ahead and did it. And I wore my HRM and was glad that my heart rate showed my effort!

Yeah! Not quite the same endorphins as running, but it’s really close!

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

What I got from today’s readings in Philippians and Philemon is to say “THANK YOU.” It seems so simple. Most of us have heard it since were very little,

“Use your manners,”

“What do you say?”

But do we remember to say it to God? Do we always remember to thank Him for all He has done for us and for all our blessings? And not to mention all the times He intercedes for us and we have no idea. The list is endless.

In today’s readings, I was reminded of another thing to thank Him for- those who are spreading the message of Jesus Christ all across the world. Our missionaries and leaders who are shamelessly stepping out for Christ, some in dangerous conditions, and doing it all FOR HIM.

They deserve our prayers and the biggest THANK YOU to God that we can muster…

“I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ.” Philemon 1:6

Something else I’m thanking God for this morning,

The new precious bundle of pink by my BFF-

And our girl who is off all pain meds and starting to feel more like herself. It was a rough couple of days but she is doing MUCH better and back to dancing and doing the splits. She is a tough little girl, for sure.

I’m back to the doctor today for more x-rays and follow-up on my leg/ankle. I’m praying for a release to running…maybe?? Even slowly and short, I’ll start anywhere! It’s been a LONGGGG six weeks.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

So I think I have enough coffee in me, as well as a few spare moments, to post an update as to what’s been going on here the past couple days.

Last I posted, we were heading to STL for another x-ray to check on Katie’s arm, and hoping for healing. Well…I’ll just let the pictures speak for themselves:

Dang it. The radius had shifted even further in towards the ulna and the bones were actually almost touching. Not good. She would have a dramatic limitation in her range of motion if left to heal this way. Ugh. Surgery at 2:30pm on Friday here we come. Boo.

After a few tears from our girl, she too was convinced that this REALLY would be better. We lifted her spirits with an old tried-and-true method…retail therapy. We headed to the mall and Target to get a few things (for all of us since none of us came prepared to stay the night), and then out to dinner at Hard Rock. After a trip to Orange Leaf for dessert, we all turned in for the night.

We were able to wake Katie up to eat a few bites before 7am (since it was a later surgery), and then we just let her sleep until about 11.

We got to St. Louis Children’s Hospital (at Barnes-Jewish) between 12:30-1, and took the elevator to the 6th floor for Same Day Surgery. We occupied Katie in the waiting room for a few minutes until they came got us to go back to prepare for surgery.

Our little patient,

Her favorite doctor, Dr. Alex, came and cut down both sides of her cast to prep it to be taken off in the OR,

After that it was time for a photo shoot with her turtle, Tori, who also got a wrist band (collar?) and her own mask for surgery…I’m telling you, you will not find a better place to take kids who have to have medical stuff done. They are so compassionate, so patient, and so kind. Everyone we met catered to the kids and made it as “fun” as it could be. There are very, very special people that fill this hospital.

After that, it was time to go get that arm fixed! Katie was getting a little nervous and teary at this point, so they let me suit up and go back into the OR with her and stay with her until she fell asleep. And yes, I know, I make this XXXXXXLLLLL suit look GOOD!

It made both of us feel a little better about the whole thing. After a kiss on the cheek of my sleeping beauty, I left her in the confident hands of her doctors and nurses…and most importantly, in God’s Hands.

The surgery to place two pins/rods/nails-the word the dr used and I hate it, was scheduled to last about an hour and a half. When I came back to her room (when we took the above pics) it was 2:30. We, along with my parents, got settled with our iPhones and prepared to wait until 4:00. We were thrilled when Dr. Goldfarb came in at 3:30 and said they were done and everything went perfect! They had to make three incisions: one at the elbow to place the rod in the ulna, one at the wrist to place the other in the radius, and one at the fracture site because of the way the radius was trying to heal displaced and he had to line it up to pass the rod through. The best part of what he told us what that she would only be in this splint for 2 weeks at which point he wants to see her and most likely transfer her into a hard brace that she can take off to swim and shower! SWIM!! Awesome!!! He said our girl was on the way to recovery and we could go home after she woke up!

Here’s the final picture of her arm from the OR,

After a big hug to our fabulous doctor (I don’t do handshakes, I do HUGS), we were off to see our Katie!

She woke up after about a half hour, had some pain meds, and promptly drank a Sprite and then begged to have her IV removed…she hated it. She spent a good 5 minutes picking dry skin off the area where her hard cast had been, and she watched some Good Luck, Charlie on Disney Channel (her favorite show).

A little after 5pm we had her dressed and she was discharged and ready to head home!

We were a happy group on our drive home. Praising God for taking care of our girl, thankful for His guidance in leading us to the right doctors to take care of her, and for Him comforting us and easing our anxieties on what could have been such a stressful day.

He is SO GOOD.

Thank you for all your prayers, thoughts, and good wishes. Please continue them for an easy and speedy recovery.

Love y’all.

xoxo

PS- We came home to the most lovely welcoming from Layne, Ethan, and Caleb! Katie was SO excited!

MY BREAST CANCER JOURNEY

Hey! I'm Erica, a 34-year-young stay-at-home mom of 3 wonderful, active children and a breast cancer SURVIVOR. My husband, Jack, is still my high school sweetheart and we have been married for 17 years. I live in a tiny town in Missouri, taking care of my family and soaking up every minute in every day. I am a lover of Jesus, running, coffee, girl-time, positivity, dancing, fruits & vegetables, shopping trips, and sports. I begin each day with the intention on pleasing the Lord and because of His amazing grace, at the end of the day, He loves me anyway. So on my blog you will be seeing my 3 favorite little people (and my favorite big-guy!), my hopes, my dreams, and my prayers. Sometimes it gets a little crazy around here, but if you are up for keeping up with a busy mom, let's go!

You can contact me by email at: jegriffin @ centurytel . net

Ah, Sovereign LORD,You are my hope, the Lord of my life. I wait on you and move cautiously in my decisions. I'm not ashamed to trust in Your guidance, Lord. Instead, I feel thankful for the encouragement and surety You give me. As I trust in You, I'm filled with peace. Throughout the day, my thoughts often turn to You for direction and strength. In quiet confidence I find strength only You can give. You, dear Father, are my Rock and my Defender; I shall not fear. I know in whom I believe and I'm persuaded You keep me close to You day by day. I look to You, I doubt not in Your unfailing love for me. Thank You. In Jesus' name, Amen.-Anita Corrine Donihue